The Trouble with Boys
by Scarlett88
Summary: This story takes place after Rachel and Jesse split up. It primarily deals with Rachel and Quinn's romantic problems. Strong hint of a Rachel/Finn pairing and a Quinn/Puck pairing. Please feel free to review.


**So this is my very first _Glee _fic and song-fic, so simply posting this is a significant step in itself. It's set after Jesse and New Directions attack Rachel in the McKinley High School parking lot. Hope everyone enjoys it. Many thanks to RebootUniverse for being a lovely beta reader. :) **

Rachel Berry sat primly with her hands in her lap as Glee rehearsal was ready to commence. She offered a brave smile to her teammates offering her their condolences and sympathies over Jesse's uncouth and uncalled for ambush three days ago. She was convinced that she could still smell the old egg rotting in her beautiful hair. She was still struggling to understand how Jesse could be so calculating; how he could have planned this mission – to undermine New Directions, make her fall in love with him, and break her heart – and still keep a straight face every single day, never once betraying his hidden motives.

_I should have known better, _she scolded herself angrily. _No boy in their right mind would ever fall in love with me. _Rachel began to check off all of her negative traits; she was admittedly very high maintenance, she had a need to be right, she always spoke her mind (which often isolated her from others); she was a perfectionist and expected everyone to conform to her standards. The list was a mile long. Rachel struggled to keep from crying as she felt a familiar tap on her shoulder.

"Hi." The gentle voice of Finn Hudson made Rachel feel even more hopeless than she already did.

"Hello," she said softly, not making eye contact.

Finn carefully placed a grape slushie in her hand. "Cheer up, he's not worth it." Giving her a supportive pat on the back, he took a seat behind her.

Rachel stirred the drink with her straw. _Was Jesse St. James worth all of the effort that I had put into our 'relationship'? _Rachel remembered hiding her relationship to Jesse from everyone in Glee, refusing to let their musical rivalry keep them apart. It didn't matter to her that he was a part of Vocal Adrenaline at Carmel High School, or that they were the main competition for the McKinley kids at Regionals. She only cared for him, and she felt betrayed that she wasn't given the same courtesy. After all of the dreaming and planning she had done for their future, when he would go off to college in California and she would start her junior year at McKinley High – she was left with nothing.

"Nice shoes," Kurt Hummel commented as he grabbed a spot next to Mercedes Jones. Rachel couldn't help but give a small smile to Kurt at his obvious attempt to cheer her up. After all of the competing that those two had done over the past year, it felt good for Rachel to know that he was on her side in the end.

Rachel sipped her drink as the sponsor of New Directions, Mr. Schuester arrived, commanding everyone's attention. Mr. Schue shot Rachel a supportive glance as he took the center of the room.

"So guys, I know we all have a lot of stuff going on right now, so I think that we should take the opportunity to do something fun as a group before we head off to Regionals in a few weeks." The twelve group members leaned in to listen to him talk. "A lot of your time in high school is focused on relationships with other people – so in an effort to do something fun and light, and maybe even provide some clarity, your assignment for the week is going to be performing a song with a partner that emphasizes a certain relationship that you would like to address in front of everyone." Heads began to churn in the room as the group members thought about what sort of message they would like to share with their peers.

"How will the partners be picked Mr. Schu?" Tina asked, sitting up a little bit straighter.

"I'm glad you asked that," he smiled, pointing a finger at Tina as he lifted his trusty hat from behind the piano. "We'll be using the tried and true method of the hat to pick our partners." The kids looked around the room at each other, wondering who they would be placed with for the week. Brittany crossed her fingers with Santana Lopez, fellow Cheerio cheerleader and best friend. Kurt leaned forward, ready to jump to be the first one to pick from the hat. A small smile formed on Rachel's mouth at the thought of a new singing challenge. It was the first time she had truly smiled since the egging.

Mercedes Jones was the first one up and she let out a scream of excitement when she pulled out Kurt's name. She immediately ran with Kurt to a corner of the room to start brainstorming. Finn hi-fived Noah Puckerman, aka Puck as he drew his name. Then Tina Cohen-Chang drew Artie Abrams, and Mike Chang was paired with Matt Rutherford.

"I guess that means we're together," a female voice said in front of Rachel. It belonged to one Miss Quinn Fabray, former head Cheerio cheerleader and current carrier of Puck's child.

Rachel nodded her head as she met Quinn's deep blue eyes.

Quinn took a seat next to Rachel. She regretted the years of teasing and torture that she had inflicted on her teammate. The two had a long history, dating back to elementary school, and Quinn insisted on having her way even then. It took the humbling experience of being kicked off the Cheerios squad – she didn't stand a chance of staying with domineering coach Sue Sylvester expecting perfection from each member – to make her reevaluate how she treated those around her. She had never experienced the pang of loneliness, or the humiliation of being hit with a slushie in the face by a laughing classmate. She could have been friends with Rachel if she had been willing to get out of her elite comfort zone and accept others. After seeing Rachel's rough break-up with Jesse, she was more determined than ever to right her past wrongs with Rachel and be a supportive glee member.

"You mind if I come home with you today?" Quinn said softly, hoping to strike a conversation.

Rachel said nothing, staring at the floor.

"I know the perfect song that we could sing this week," Quinn suggested, eying Finn and Puck as they headed to the Puckerman house.

Rachel raised her head at the mention of the song for the week. "Oh," she said softly.

Quinn took Rachel's hand in hers. "Trust me on this one. The message will speak to both of us."

* * *

Rachel lay sprawled on her pink comforter as Quinn took to the center of Rachel's bedroom, jotting down notes in one of her loose-leaf notebooks.

"Are you sure about this?" Rachel asked as she listened to Quinn's plan.

"Positive," Quinn said with energy that was becoming contagious. Rachel sent her a withering look. "Okay," Quinn said, taking a seat on the bed, "We are both suffering from boy trouble, and this is the perfect song to ease our minds."

Rachel still looked unconvinced.

"You love musicals," Quinn insisted. "It's your specialty."

"True," Rachel said, a half smile forming on her mouth. "And the message is very important."

Quinn nodded her head. "It's the best thing to do with that Jesse jerk," Quinn affirmed.

Rachel let out a sigh as Quinn wrapped an arm around her. "I'm waiting for the pain to go away," she whispered.

"It doesn't happen overnight. These things take time."

Rachel turned to Quinn. "What do you know about getting dumped by a guy?" Quinn frowned slightly and Rachel quickly caught her mistake. "I forgot about Finn," she said apologetically.

"Finn's the only guy that's ever broken up with me," Quinn admitted. "Every other relationship I've had since elementary school has been the other way around."

"You were dating in elementary school?" Rachel asked.

"Boys were interested – I couldn't say no," Quinn laughed. "But anyway, my point is, at some point you are going to stop feeling sorry for yourself about Jesse and be ready to move onto someone else."

"I don't think anyone else in the world would ever be interested in me," Rachel said glumly.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Quinn smirked. "Finn's had his eye on you since you got together with Jesse."

Rachel gave Quinn a small smile. "Maybe someday I'll have a chance with him."

"Just don't blow it like I did," Quinn joked lightly as they stood up to practice their movements for the dance. Rachel was showing more spring in her step as she followed Quinn's actions, impressed at how her teammate had taken control of the situation when Rachel had been too shattered to do anything.

* * *

The night before Glee practice Quinn and Rachel worked doubly hard on their song. Quinn was right, the song was perfect for them at the moment, and it could even spread some insight to some of the fellow glee-clubbers.

Rachel collapsed on her bed next to Quinn, exhausted. "So I know why I need to sing this song, but why is this song so important to you?"

Quinn flopped over to look at Rachel. "Puck is telling me that he wants to be involved with the pregnancy, and I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready to be with any guy." Quinn rubbed her belly. ""I'm never having sex again after I have her…well at least not until I'm married."

"Really?"

Quinn nodded her head. "I mean, being with a guy is great and all, but the next time I do it, I'm gonna be more careful about when it happens and who it happens with."

"Good choice," echoed Rachel, who was suddenly thankful that she never went all the way with Jesse…or Puck for that matter. She didn't want to waste her virginity on just any guy; and right now there was only one guy that she could envision giving herself to – and that was Finn.

"How do you get the energy to keep going?" Rachel asked, looking at Quinn's rounded belly.

"Determination," Quinn said, running her fingers through her hair.

"Me too," Rachel nodded. "You know I think we really are more alike than we think." She reached for Quinn's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Thank-you for helping me get over Jesse."

"You did a lot of the work yourself," Quinn told her. "You should be proud."

"I am," Rachel said, sitting up. "I am."

* * *

Glee Club was abuzz with excitement as the members anxiously awaited for their turn to go first. Santana and Brittany laughed their way through _Thank-you for Being a Friend _from the television show _Golden Girls_; Mercedes and Kurt dazzled the crowd with _Wind Beneath my Wings _which had been made popular by Bette Midler_; _Artie and Tina sang _From This Moment On _by Shania Twain; Mike and Matt sang _I'll be There _by Jackson 5. Finn and Puck requested to go next and both men took the stage singing _I Swear _by All-4-One. Rachel and Quinn were the last two to perform for the crowd. They shared a smile as Rachel stepped forward. "Quinn and I are singing a song from the movie _South Pacific _called, _I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right out of my Hair. _

As the music began Quinn and Rachel saluted one another. Rachel stepped up for the first verse, closing her eyes to sing as she imagined this as her final farewell to one Jesse St. James.

**Rachel**  
_I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
And send him on his way._

_Get the picture._

Rachel winked to Quinn as she stepped in front for her verse, spreading her arms wide above her head.  
**Quinn:**  
_I'm gonna wave that man right outa my arms,  
I'm gonna wave that man right outa my arms,  
I'm gonna wave that man right outa my arms,  
And send him on his way._

Rachel sashayed her way next to Quinn, swaying her hips to the music. Quinn followed in suit.

**Rachel**  
_Don't try to patch it up  
Tear it up, tear it up!_  
**Quinn**  
_Wash him out, dry him out,  
Push him out, fly him out,  
_**Both**  
_Cancel him and let him go!_

The girls raised their firsts into the air.  
**Quinn**  
_Yea, sister!_

**Rachel**

_Whoo!_  
Rachel and Quinn linked arms together for the chorus, sidestepping with the lyrics.  
**Both**  
_I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair,  
And send him on his way._  
The girls separated as Quinn once again moved center, taking a thinking pose.  
**Quinn**

_If a man don't understand you,  
If you fly on separate beams,"_

Quinn mimicked riding a horse.  
_"Waste no time, make a change,  
Ride that man right off your range.  
Rub him out of the roll call  
And drum him out of your dreams._  
Rachel moved next to Quinn, gesturing to her sides.  
**Rachel**  
_Oho! If you laugh at different comics,  
If you root for different teams,  
Waste no time, weep no more,  
Show him what the door is for.  
Rub him out of the roll call  
And drum him out of your dreams._  
Linking arms once again, the girls geared up for the big finale.

**Both**  
_Oho, oho_

_I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
And sent him on his way.  
I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
I went to wash that man right outa my hair,  
And sent him on his way._

Raising their hands above their heads they both finished the final note with sheer delight to the thunderous applause from their classmates. Rachel gave off a genuine smile as she hugged Quinn, sending her another thank-you for working so hard with her.

Finn and Puck met Rachel and Quinn by the piano after class.

"You were amazing," Finn smiled, taking Rachel's hand in his.

"I was?" Rachel asked, knowing the answer, but loving to hear it from him.

Finn gave her a kiss on the cheek in response. "Can I walk you home?" he asked. Rachel nodded yes, as Finn chivalrously offered her his arm.

At the piano, Puck and Quinn were still in deep conversation. "So you're ending it with me?"

"It's temporary," Quinn promised him. "You can be there for the birth; all I'm saying is that I need my space right now."

"You know Finn and I sang that song for you and Rachel."

"I know – and it was sweet." Quinn touched Puck's shoulder. "Please don't be mad," she whispered.

Puck shook his head. "I'm not mad; as long as there is the possibility of a you and me, I'm not mad." Puck and Quinn began to walk out of the room. "And this time I'm gonna do it right - I won't see other girls until you make up your mind about us." Puck looked at Quinn questioningly, "It won't take long will it?" he half joked.

Quinn playfully slugged Puck on the arm. "When I'm ready for us, you will be the first to know," she assured him.

With another week behind them, and things just a little clearer, the Glee kids were more than ready for Regionals in the next few weeks. Whether they were going to win or lose, they were going to do it together, as a team, and nothing was going to change that.


End file.
